


The Life You Save May Be Your Own

by ThatRavenclawBitch



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Episode: s07e22 Leaving Storybrooke, F/M, Fix-It, Post-Season/Series Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-10 04:58:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14730398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatRavenclawBitch/pseuds/ThatRavenclawBitch
Summary: Based on Wish!Rumple saying that Rumple defeating the Dark One would take away his power as well. What if Rumple’s actions in the series finale had repercussions for all versions of the Dark One? Spoilers for the OUAT series finale.Winner Best Fluff: Fix It in The Espenson Awards 2019





	The Life You Save May Be Your Own

It was an unremarkable Thursday when it happened. Well, as unremarkable as his days are now. Rumplestiltskin still thinks every day he has with his family is a miracle. It was only a relatively short time ago when he thought Belle and Gideon were lost to him forever, that there was no path for him but darkness and loneliness. Instead he woke up this morning in a large suite in sunny Barcelona, his wife by his side and his five-year-old son sleeping in the next room. Tomorrow they are boarding a boat to sail around the Mediterranean for the next few weeks before they plot their next adventure.

No, every day spent with his family is truly remarkable. But it was an unremarkable Thursday in this new fantastic world Rumple had somehow lucked his way in to.

They were walking the perimeter of La Sagrada Familia, Belle reading out facts about the impressive building from her Rick Steves travel guide, when he felt it, a sudden whoosh through his body sending the whole world off kilter, his head spinning. He doubled over for a moment, his breathing labored.

“Rumple?” Belle asked, pausing in her description of the various sculptures in the Passion Façade and resting a hand on his shoulder in concern. “Are you alright?”

Rumple righted himself, rubbing the center of his chest lightly. It felt different, as though something was missing suddenly. It wasn’t pain, just an odd feeling of weightlessness, as though he’d been walking with a lodestone around his neck and it was suddenly gone.

“I’m fine,” he said, shaking his head. “I think…” he trailed off, not quite ready to give voice to what he suspected had happened. He hadn’t broached the topic with Belle yet, that he planned to give up the power of the dagger. He was still looking for the best way to go about it and didn’t want to commit to that conversation until he had a plan of action.

Belle was still young, but she wouldn’t always be. In a few short years she would be of an age, physically, with Rumple himself. And then she would grow older. So would Gideon. Rumple had buried one child before. He would not, could not, outlive his family again. There had to be a way, and he would find it.

There was magic in this realm. Not much, but enough for the Dark One himself to manipulate. Rumple flicked his fingers, calling the magic to himself, trying to do something simple and discreet.

The crowd around the cathedral was fairly dense and no one was paying attention to a middle aged man on a family vacation. It was a revelation just how seamlessly he could blend in to this land without magic. He’d spent centuries looking like the monster within and another few decades being feared and reviled in Storybrooke. Now he was nothing special, nothing to be feared by people passing on the street. He was just a man visiting a church with his wife and child. 

With that in mind he summoned his dagger to hand, just a flick of his wrist that could be taken for sleight of hand if anyone were to see. He needn’t have bothered worrying because nothing happened at all.

Rumple snapped his fingers, trying to call a spark of light to his fingertips but nothing happened then either. He rarely used magic these days, but when they did have need of it, it was as effortless as it had always been since he’d taken on the mantle of Dark One.

No, something had definitely happened. His magic was gone.

Rumple was surprised at how calmly he took the realization. There was no panic, no fear, just a desire to be certain.

“Actually, darling,” he said, turning to look down into Belle’s still concerned face. “Do you mind if we head back to the hotel a little early today?”

“Of course,” she said, stuffing her guide book back in to her handbag and taking Gideon’s small hand in her own. “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?”

Rumple gave a quick nod. “I just need to check on something back at the hotel.”

They weren’t staying far from the cathedral and it was a quick trip back to the hotel with only one small detour when Gideon pleaded with his parents for ice cream.

Once they were back in their suite, Belle settling Gideon down for his afternoon nap, Rumple made a beeline straight for the hotel safe in the master bedroom, opening it up and pulling out the long, black box concealed within. He took a deep breath before cracking it open. The dagger was there, black with silver markings, looking the same as it had since the day he’d taken back the power from Hook and Emma Swan but for one noticeable difference.

“Belle!” he called, staring down at the dagger in disbelief.

Belle rushed in to the bedroom. “What is it? Is something –” 

Rumple cut her off, shoving the dagger in to her hands before stumbling back to sit on the bed.

She looked down at it, her fingers tracing over the solid black space that had once borne Rumple’s name.

“It’s blank,” she said, turning the dagger in her hands. “And there used to be something menacing about it, a thrum of dark magic you could always feel. I never liked holding it. Now it just seems…”

“Empty,” Rumple supplied. “It is.”

Belle gawped at him, the hand holding the dagger falling limply to her side.

“What does this mean?”

“It’s gone,” he explained. “My magic, the curse, my immortality, all of it.”

Belle’s eyes widened. “How?” she asked. “How is that even possible?”

“I’m not sure. I felt that something had changed, but I wasn’t sure until I saw the dagger.”

He gave Belle a gentle smile, reaching for her free hand. “Perhaps, in the end, true love won out.”

Belle’s face was unreadable, neither the relief nor happiness he had expected showing through.

“Are you…” she began, licking her lips nervously. “Is this okay? I know how much the magic means to you.”

Rumple let out a snort of laughter. She was worried he was upset, that he would break down, that this would ruin them. She certainly had precedent for that. Had he not insisted he could have both her love and his curse? Had he not told her he loved the dagger she now held in her hand, no more potent than a butter knife? 

“Sweetheart,” he said, standing from the bed and taking the dagger from her hands, throwing it carelessly on the bed behind him. “The magic has never been important. You’re what’s important, you and Gideon, our family.”

“What…what are you saying?” Belle asked.

Rumple rested his hands on her shoulders, sliding them down her arms to pull her closer. After five years of marital bliss she was still nervous about where she stood with him. Rumple could kick himself for every time he’d ever taken her for granted, that he’d ever made her doubt that she was the most important person in the world to him.

“Belle,” he said with every ounce of conviction in his body. “I have been alive many, many years, and of all those years the past five have been the happiest I can imagine. All I want is a singular, natural life, with you.”

“Rumple,” Belle said, looping her arms around his neck. “That’s beautiful. But I’m still confused as to how this even happened.” 

Rumple shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“Well, the darkest magic in the known realms has just been eradicated without any discernible reason,” she scoffed. “I’d like to know how out of professional curiosity if nothing else. Wouldn’t you?”

“I suppose,” he said. “Though I think we have far more important things to occupy our time.”

Belle arched an eyebrow at him. “Like what?”

“Like taking advantage of the fact that our son is asleep,” he said with a wink. “I might not be the Dark One anymore but I still know a few tricks.”

Belle’s nose scrunched up adorably as she laughed. “And after that?” she asked saucily. “You’re not the Dark One anymore. Was that stamina all you or the curse?”

“Cheeky, cheeky,” Rumple said, skimming his hands down her back to settle on her waist and pull her closer against him. “You’ll pay for that, Mrs. Gold.”

He leaned down, nuzzling his nose against her neck and Belle let out a contented sigh. “Looking forward to it.”

Rumple playfully nipped at her neck before pulling back again to kiss her properly.

“You’re taking this remarkably well,” Belle said between kisses, carding her hands through his hair. “There’s no part of you that’ll miss it?”

“Why would I?” Rumple asked, butting his nose against Belle’s. “I have everything I need right here.”

As he returned to the very enjoyable task of kissing his wife, Rumple thought he couldn't possibly be happier with his newfound freedom. After centuries of life, it seemed someone out there was finally looking out for him. If only he could thank them. 


End file.
